(Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter.) 

 Published Weekly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Co., 334 Dearborn St. 



QEORQE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, FEBRUARY 1, 1906 



VoL XLVI-No. 5 



=\ 



(Sbitortal Xloks 

 anb (Eomments 



j 



Keep hive-Entrances Clear 



If your hives are so arranged that there is a space of 

 some 2 inches under the bottom-bars, you are fortunate. If 

 not, it may be worth while to consider a little whether you 

 will not have them so arranged before another winter ; and, 

 in the meantime, don't forget occasionally to clean the dead 

 bees out of the entrances and from under the bottom-bars 

 by means of a hooked wire or otherimplement. The admis- 

 sion of fresh air is important, and, besides, it does bees no 

 good to live over a cemetery. 



Dealing With Some Queen-Breeders. 



We have received the following from a bee-keeper in 

 Montana : 



On page 33, "Pennsylvania" asks, " Do you think 

 that queens that come through the mails are as good as 

 those not caged ?" 



I, too, have had experience buying queens, and, as far 

 as my experience goes, I can say that I have not found any 

 honest queen-breeders. I hope that I have dealt with the 

 only dishonest ones, and that all the rest are honest. Any 

 one sending for queens is wholly at the mercy of the 

 breeders, and if they are dishonest, and send us anything 



Caucasian Bees in France 



In a previous number of this Journal, commenting upon 

 the conflicting views as to Caucasian bees, it was intimated 

 that a possible explanation might be that more than one 

 kind of Caucasians were in existence. The following letter 

 from the well-known French queen-rearers, Giraud Broth- 

 ers, is directly in point : 



I am very much interested in your paper. In the Ameri- 

 can journals there is much said about Caucasian bees; but 

 many do not know that there are two varieties, both very 

 gentle. In the catalog of A. B. Postialko. the two varieties 

 are specified as : Apis mellifera caucasica aurea and Apis 

 mellifera nigra argentea. In my apiaries I have several of 

 the variety aurea. It is a long distance to mail bees from 

 Caucasus to the U. S. A. Like Prof. Benton, we are great 

 admirers of Cyprians, the best honey-gatherers in the 

 world. Mated with Italian or Carniolan drones, these bees 

 are easily manipulated. Giraud frerks. 



If anything is to be judged by the names, the aurea 

 variety should be somewhat golden, and nigra argentea 

 silver and black. 



they like, how are we going to improve our stock unless it 

 be bv accident ? 



I will mention two deals, and would give the names 

 mighty quick, but I think my letter would find the waste- 

 basket if I did : 



In June. 1905, I sent for an Adel queen, and wrote with 

 the order, " If you can't fill this order within 5 days return 

 it." In August I got a queen, but the flow had stopped, so 

 I can not say whether she layed " a sitting of eggs " or not. 



In April my brother wrote to a fellow in Ohio, with 

 whom he was slightly acquainted, and told him that we 

 would take 6 Carniolan queens. Send him one, and 

 that I would take the other 5. I wrote, "If you can't 

 fill this order by May 10, return it." About May 20 I 

 | countermanded my order, and asked for my money. In 

 June I got 5 queens — one old black one didn't survive the 

 trip, the others were Italians and mongrels, and though the 

 nurse-bees were black, those queens never produced a black 

 bee for me. They " fell down " on all the points where the 

 Carniolans are said to excel, unless it be gentleness — there 

 were so few of them that they were quite harmless. 



I have just had a letter from my brother. He writes, 

 "My Carniolan was like yours — an Italian, and worthless 

 at that." L,. A. Smith. 



We have heard of experiences similar to the above, but 

 that does not prove that all queen breeders are di 5 honest. 

 It only proves that there are some who do business in a very 

 careless way, and don't care whether or not they give satis- 

 faction to their customers. 



But, really, there is no excuse for not returning the 

 money promptly, when instructed to do that if unable to 

 send the queens ordered within a specfied number of days. 



We trust that the queen breeders who advertise in the 

 American Bee Journal will be very particular about obeying 

 the orders of their customers, and also as to sending out the 

 the kind of queens they advertise. We don't feel called 

 upon to help any dishonest or unbusinesslike queen-breeder 

 or other dealer. Our subscribers must be treated right, or 

 else our advertising columns will be closed to such adver- 

 tisers who do otherwise. 



Some Objects of Some Bee-Papers 



It is natural that every bee-paper publisher should 

 strive to secure as many subscribers as possible. The 

 American Bee Journal confesses to such worthy and hon- 

 orable desire. 



It seems to be the effort of at least one leading bee- 

 paper to induce more people to keep bees— to go into the 

 business — and thus produce more honey to put on the market. 



Another bee-paper urges more bee-keepers to keep more 

 bees, and thus increase the output of honey annually. 



What the American Bee Journal would like to see is 

 this : The name of every bee keeper now in the land on its 

 list as a regular subscriber. There are perhaps plenty of 

 bee-keepers in existence for the present. Then if all who 



